Best science and technology pictures of the week

The most amazing pictures from the past seven days – featuring beauty under the sea, giant drilling machines and the hypnotic motion of a space telescope.

More stunning image galleries:

Stunning views of Earth and up close and personal with a human parasite

Russian meteor, extreme weather and a turtle with artificial fins

Cosmic storms, the first bionic man and how to clean a oil-covered bird

Birth of stars, life at sub-zero temperatures and micro-living in the city

Pollution from space, active volcanoes and a robot restaurant

Amazing Lego sculptures, freakish weather… and Big Bird

Gruesome tools, environmental disasters and intimate views from space.

Christmas treats and the end of the world

Bathing snow monkeys, a tweeting pope and elephant dung coffee.

Architectural giants and a new way of seeing the Moon

Red pandas, Saturn and Nature’s unstoppable forces

The world's largest bloom, the world's largest aquarium and the world's fastest sailing boat

Venice under water, a total eclipse and a pedestrian-avoiding car

Space shuttle, Baumgartner and Hurricane Sandy

The best of 2012 galleries:

A year in space

The year in technology

A year of discovery

People of the year

The year in weather

The year in wildlife

Weird and wonderful

Places

New frontiers

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